Method of measuring one&#39;s waistline



June 6, 1967 G. N. SlMoNsEN 3,323,141

METHOD OF MEASURING ONES WAISTLNE Original Filed Aug. l5, 1962 IN V EN TOR.

GEO GE N. 52 .3. SIMOMSEN United States Patent Ofi-ice 3,323,141 METHOD F MEASURING ONES WAISTLINE George N. Simonsen, 2038 N. Karlov Ave., Chicago, lll. 60639 Continuation of application Ser. No. 217,053, Aug. 15, 1962. This application Apr. 8, 1966, Ser. No. 547,700 1 Claim. (Cl. 2--322) This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 217,053 tiled Aug. 15, 1962, now abandoned.

The present invention relates in general to waistline measurement devices, and it relates more particularly to a method of secretively measuring ones own waistline.

At the present time and probably before the beginning of the history of man as We know it, the human being has been very much concerned with his girth. In recent years an apparent relationship between coronary ailments and a persons weight has been suggested with the result that dietary control measures to reduce or at least stabilize a persons weight are commonly practiced by a sizeable portion of the human race. And lthe effectiveness of such measures is usually indicated by a change in the length in the dieters waistline. Frequent measuring and recording of the waistline is, however, a troublesome nuisance and is, therefore, not commonly done. On the other hand, if the person doing the dieting were to frequently make such a measurement thereby to be apprised of his or her change in girth and associated improvement in appearance, encouragement in the continuation in the planned diet would be offered.

Of course, those persons who should be, and probably are in most cases, anxious to reduce their waistline prefer not to make known their own awareness of their excessive waistline and, therefore, the means for their making frequent measurements of their girth should be secretive in nature. Nevertheless, such means should be available to the dieter throughout his waking hours as a means of assuring him as to the direct relationship between his caloric intake and the length of his waistline.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved device for measuring the Waistlne of a per-son.

Another object of the present invention is to incor porate into a persons everyday garments a means for measuring the persons waistline.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a normal wearing garment including means for indicating, only to the person wearing it, his waistline dimension.

Further objects and advantages and a better understanding of the present invention may be had by reference to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1A is a fragmentary plan view of a belt embodying the present invention;

FIG. 1B is a sectional View taken along the line 1B-1B of FIG. lA;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view, partly broken away, illustrating another belt embodying the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the waistline of a person wearing the belt of FIG. 1, and showing a portion of the belt twisted outwardly to permit inspection by the wearer of the inner face of the belt at the location of the buckle.

Referring now to the drawing and particularly to FIG. 1, thereof, there is shown a belt which is adapted to be worn on the person as a garment and which comprises a narrow, elongated, flat strip 12 of a flexible, opaque materi-al such, for example, as leather, plastic, or cloth fabric and which is attached at the right-hand end thereof, as viewed in FIG. 1, to a buckle 14. Inasmuch as the belt 10 is expressly designed for and is adapted to be used as part of the clothes of the wearer, such, for example, as for hold- 3,323,141 Patented June 6, 1967 ing up a pair of trousers or for holding in the waistline of a dress, it is referred to hereinafter as a garment type belt to distinguish it from the more general lusage of the term belt `as meaning any elongated flat strip of material.

The buckle 14 comprises a ring 16 of a rigid material such, for example, as metal, having an arm 18 on which a finger 20 is pivoted. As shown, the free end of the linger 20 overlies an arm 19 located opposite to the arm 18. The strip 12 is folded back over itself to form a loop through which the `arm 18 extends .and the loop is secured in place by means of a pair of suitable fasteners 22 and 24 which may be, for example, rivets. The strip 12 is provided with an aperture 26 through which the finger 20 extends for free pivotal motion about the arm 18. As thus far described, the belt 10 is of a conventional garment type. The left-hand end of the strip 12 is smoothly rounded as at 28 to facilitate insertion therein through the buckle 14 and a plurality of spatially arranged holes 30 are provided in the strip 12 for reception therein of the buckle linger 20 to secure the loose end of the belt at a lixed position to the buckle 14. As best shown in FIG. 1B, the particular one of the holes 30 through which the finger 20 extends is thus located in proximity to the outer cross arm 19 of the buckle 14.

In accordance with an important feature of the present invention the inner face of the strip 12 is marked in the vicinity of each of the holes 30 with a set of numerals corresponding to the number of inches between that hole and the location of that particular hole in the buckle 14 when the finger 20 extends therethrough to hold the belt in place on the wearer. lf, for example, the particular hole is 48 inches from the part of the buckle 14 in which it is located when selected to attach the free end of the strip 12 to the buckle, then that particular hole is marked with the number 48. In the illustrated embodiments of the invention the holes 30 are spaced one inch apart, but in some cases closer spacing of, for example, one-half inch may be preferable.

It has been found that most persons wear a 4belt in such a way that the free end extends from left to right across their front, but others use a belt in the opposite manner whereby the free end extends in the opposite direction. Therefore, in accordance with an important feature of the present invention two sets of numerals are provided for each one of the holes 30. Both of these sets are aligned with the longitudinal axis of the strip 12 and the sets are inverted relative to one another. Accordingly, whether the belt is worn from right to left or from left to right, when it is twisted forw-ardly, as best shown in FIG. 3, one or the other of the sets of numerals appears upright to the wearer, thus facilitating his reading of it. In like manner, if the wearer has twisted the belt into the position shown in FIG. 3 in order to show the measurement to another, then one of the sets of numerals will be upright to that other person.

In a belt of this type it is, of course, most important that the outer surface 32 of the belt, as shown in FIG. 3, not include any numerals or any other printed matter which would detract from the appearance of the belt. Moreover, it is important that the material from which the strip 12 is made be opaque so that the numerals are not visible through it from the outside.

It will be understood, of course, that buckles of various types are used on belts and the present invention may be adapted for use with any of these types of buckles. Instead of using the perforated type of belt, through which a buckle finger extends, the buckle may be of the other conventional type wherein the intermediate portion of the belt strip which extends through the buckle is frictionally engaged by suitable means. Buckles of this type are well known in the art, and for the sakes of brevity and clarity are not described herein. However, referring to 3 FIG. 2, there is shown a buckle 60 of this general type, which is secured to one end of a narrow elongated at strip 62 of a suitable belting material like that used in the strip 12 and which has an end cap 64 secured over the free end thereof to facilitate insertion of the free end of the belt through the buckle `60. In order to provide a visual indication to the wearer of the belt of the extent of his or her waistline, the inner surface only of the belt strip 62 is provided with a plurality of sets of numerals 66, and as in the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 1A, two sets of numerals are provided at spaced-apart locations of the belt and are inverted relative to one another. For example, at a location 50 inches from the extreme right-hand end inner edge 68 of the buckle 60 there is provided the sets of numerals 50, and 49 inches from that place we nd the numeral set 49, etc. Consequently, if, when secured in place on the wear, the number 49 ap pears at the free end 68 of the buckle 60, then the belt loop is 49 inches long, and if the belt is drawn up snugly on the wearer, his waistline is approximately 49 inches.

There is thus provided in accordance with the present invention a garment type of belt which provides to the wearer an indication of his waistline measurement wit-hout at the same time providing such an indication for others who might see the belt in place. To others, the belt appears to be an entirely conventional belt, and Of the type normally worn as part of the garments of the user. Since it is usual to wear a belt at most times during the day, the user can at any time readily twist the belt forward as shown in FIG. 3 to indicate to himself and to himself only his waistline measurement.

While the present invention has been described n connection with particular embodiments thereof, it will be understood that those skilled in the art may make many changes and modifications without departing from the true spirit and scope of thisinvention and, therefore, it is intended in the appended claim to cover all such changes and modifications which fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim:

A method of secretively measuring ones own waistline while simultaneously supporting, in the normal manner, a garment encircling said waistline, comprising the steps of placing and securing an opaque garment supporting ornamental belt around the waistline of the user by threading said belt through conventional belt loops on a conventional garment being worn by the user to support said garment on the user,

providing visible indicia means in the form of a graduated scale of spaced apart numerals on the inner surface only of said belt for indicating the length of the portion of said belt looping the users waist and readable only by the wearer when the belt is twisted to expose the inner surface thereof, and

twisting the part of the belt adjacent his abdomen downwardly to an angle about 90 degrees to point the inside surface or` the belt and said visible means toward the users head whereby he can read from the inner surface of said belt his waistline measurement.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 317,830 5/1885 Merle et al. 2-300 X 650,389 5/l900 Hateld 33-179 1,432,605 10/1922 Lawrence 33-179 X 2,045,280 6/1936 Mayer 2--155 2,205,626 6/1940 Mason 33-179 2,914,070 ll/l959 Kellner et al. 128-558 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

G. V. LARKIN, Assistant Examiner. 

